Renee T. Willis on Closing the Achievement Gap (Part 1 of 2)

1. Renee T. Willis on Closing the
Achievement Gap (Part 1 of 2)

2. • Renee T. Willis,is an educator with more than 20 years of experience addressing
the needs of at-risk youth.
• As the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Responding to Challenges
Consulting, LLC, she helps school systems address the achievement gap and
create environments that offer the possibility of success for every student.
• In this two-part interview, she answered questions about recent research on the
achievement gap.

3. • Question: Are we having success in closing the achievement gap?
• Renee T. Willis: No. In fact, recent studies suggest that the gap is actually
growing. Students born in 2001 will experience an achievement gap that is 40
percent larger than the gap experienced by students born in 1976. This is
especially alarming since we will soon be living in a majority-minority country.
The growing achievement gap means that the system is failing most of our
students. We cannot afford to write off more than half of our population.

4. • Q: What contributes to the achievement gap?
• RTW: Researchers are finding that much of the achievement gap seems to be
related to school and neighborhood culture. When students grow up in a
neighborhood or school that rewards disruptive behavior and does not support
good study habits, they do not succeed. The achievement gap isn’t an ability gap.
It’s an effort and attention gap. Oftentimes schools cannot see past the behaviors
to recognize the "genius" that is inside of the student. Behaviors are often
manifested due to the environment which the student lives and interacts in daily.
While the school can't necessarily change that home environment, they can help
the student learn strategies that will mitigate the negative influences of that
dysfunctional home environment.